First Season's Greetings
by Zelgadis55
Summary: Secret Santa Prompt. "You really don't know who I am?" Four little green heads shook in reply. "Do you at least know what Christmas is? You may call me Santa." The turtle tots know nothing of Christmas and neither does their Father. One night, they get a very special visit. No OCs. Could fit into 2k3 or original movie Turtle universes. Please R&R, Thanks :-)


Series: TMNT

Author: Zelgadis55

Rating: G

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Summary: Secret Santa fanfic for CuddlyHawk. Scenario, prompt: Any combination of the four turtle tots (either one of them or all four or any combination you like) meeting Santa for the first time (can be Sensei OR the real Santa). No OCs.

A/N: Could fit into 2k3 or original movieverse as Splinter started out life as a rat in this, thereby explaining certain lack of knowledge on his part. And yes, this means I also have my laptop back now but I am going away for a few weeks as of Christmas Eve to the other side of Aus so updates may still be delayed as while I know I will have net access, I just don't know about time.

Merry Christmas, CuddlyHawk! I thought about your request for a while before coming up with this. I hope you enjoy it :-)

**First Season's Greetings**

"_Raphie! Leo! Donnie!_" Michelangelo half whispered, half whimpered frantically as he moved from one brother to the next, shaking each in turn with one hand in his distress, "_Wake up!_"

"_Go 'way!_" Raphael grumbled irritably, desperate to keep sleeping.

"No!_ Wake up!_" Mikey insisted, stumbling back to the brother who had just spoken in the near, almost dark. Only the faint light from a glow stick clutched protectively in his other hand lit the room.

"Why're you awake..." In his half asleep state, Leonardo's tone could almost have been mistaken for a whine.

Mikey glanced towards the mattress Leo and Donnie shared. Now the four of them were starting to get a little bigger, Splinter had gone out of his way to find a second mattress in usable condition, allowing the brothers more room when sleeping. However, the four of them still shared a single bedroom.

"I was thirsty." Mikey whispered in a tone of voice that obviously explained everything.

"And you had to wake all three of us up just to get a drink?" Donatello asked incredulously. "You have the glow stick, Mikey. You can't still be too scared to go by yourself." Splinter had recently lucked out, finding an intact box of the chemical lights one night when scrounging for supplies. He had immediately decided to use one each night when his sons slept unattended instead of leaving a potentially dangerous lit candle in their room.

Raph groaned, flopping back onto the bedding he and Mikey shared and closed his eyes; all he wanted was to go back to sleep already.

Mikey drew himself up to his full, unimpressive height. The last thing he wanted his brothers to think was that he was a scaredy turtle. "No! I can, I _did_! But..." his voice trailed off again, fear tingeing it.

"But what?"

Mikey whispered again, his face unusually pale in the dim lighting. "There... there's someone out there!"

"Daddy must be back." Leo suggested matter of factly as he tried to reassure his brother.

Mikey shook his head wildly, tears prickling the edges of his eyes. "No... too tall an' big for daddy! 'sides, he's not home yet, I checked! I think it's... a human... or a munster..." he finished, fear making his voice almost disappear.

Leo and Donnie exchanged scared looks and Raph opened his eyes, looking disbelievingly at his shaken brother. "Prolly just 'nother bad dream, Mikey."

"I was awake, Raphie! An' there's a human out in the main room an' daddy's still out scev... scav.. scaving..."

"Scavenging." Donnie supplied helpfully.

"Yeah, that!" Mikey quickly agreed. "Wha... what do we do? What if the human finds us? Daddy's not home to save us..."

"You could've been dreaming it..." Leo said as comfortingly as he could, even as trepidation filled his own body, "but maybe we should all go look together... quietly, like daddy's been showing us." Leo didn't miss the way Mikey looked fearfully towards the door but to his credit, he nodded in agreement and even looked kind of grateful.

"'s jus' a bad dream..." Raph grumbled but he still clambered out of bed to join the others at the door.

Leo gently eased the door open, thankful that it didn't make any noise and crept out before waiting for his brothers to follow. Ever so slowly, the four edged their way to the common room, giving their best effort to remain as silent as possible. They weren't perfectly soundless but at least they didn't attract any attention to themselves.

The four small brothers reached the corner of the passage and Leo peeked around the edge, his brown eyes growing wide in fear. Quickly, he drew himself back, leaning as flat against the wall as his shell would allow and breathing hard.

_Mikey was right!_

There was someone in there and it _wasn't_ their father!

"_Well?_" Raph hissed impatiently, trying to push past Leo. Leonardo turned wide eyes on Raph and swallowed, putting his finger to his lips even as he used his other hand to stop his brother. Gingerly, he eased his head around the corner again, staring at the scene for a couple of minutes before hurriedly getting out of sight again as the huge, brightly dressed stranger began to turn towards Leo's direction.

Leo grabbed Raph and Mikey's arms and pulled them back down the corridor, trusting his more sensible brother to follow without argument.

Once they were far enough from the common room, Raph roughly pulled his arm from Leo's grip. "What'd you see? Is it a human?" Leo nodded and Raph continued excitedly, "Is it ten foot tall? An' have eyes that glow red like fire and breath smellin' like puke?"

Mikey whimpered slightly and Donnie just looked at Raph in disbelief. Leo opened his mouth to say something but couldn't get a word in as Raphael kept questioning.

"Did the human have fangs as long as a finger?" He wriggled the fingers on both hands in Leo's face, either not noticing or not caring about Mikey's obvious distress. Raph lowered his voice conspiratorially, "Did it have cages?"

"Raph!" Leo interrupted at last, "You're scaring Mikey! Yes, it looked like a tall, hairy human, no to the rest! It was... I dunno _what_ it was doing but it looked like it was makin' a mess... hope daddy doesn't blame us..."

"What do you mean?" Donnie asked, tilting his head curiously as he looked at Leo.

"The human somehow grew a tree in there..."

"That can't be!" Donnie protested at the obviously insane answer even while he whipped his head to look in the direction of the other room, his eyes wide with curiosity over what was really happening back there. He bit his lip for a moment, made up his mind and started walking back there.

"Where're you going?" Leo hissed anxiously. "There's a human in there! It's not safe!"

"Gotta see this for myself." Donnie replied quietly. "I'll stay hidden."

"Me too!" Raph said. "I'm not lettin' you and Mikey be the only ones to get to see the human!"

"But!..." But Raph was gone, following closely on Donnie's heels.

Mikey glanced at Leo before turning his gaze after Raph and Donnie and running after them both. Now his brothers were awake and with him, he wanted to see again, properly this time.

Leo hung his head and sighed before running lightly after the other three. To his complete horror, he saw Donnie and Raph go right around the corner, not even hesitating, and into the main room. Moments later, he saw Mikey hesitate before following. When Leo reached the corner of the passage a couple of seconds later, he cautiously looked around it, seeing the human had its back to them and was humming merrily. He cast his gaze around the room, spotting Donnie, Raph and Mikey peeking over and around from the back of the raggedy old couch. Leo took his chance and quickly ran to join them.

The curious but fearful young turtles watched in fascination as the jolly man dressed in white trimmed red puttered about an amazingly huge, green tree, motioning as he decorated it with glittering trinkets and baubles. The strangest part was that though he motioned towards the tree with his hands, he didn't actually physically touch it.

"Not possible..." Donnie murmured in denial, wide eyed as he continued to stare in wonder.

Lights danced in the air around the tree and jolly human like fireflies above a clean stream in summer.

Mikey couldn't keep his eyes off the nearest one, like a cat with its gaze focused on a flitting bird, "Pretty..." He began to reach out a hand as if to touch it as it drifted close by, only to find his hand grabbed and yanked back by Leo. Mikey turned a reproachful look on his bossy brother before returning his attention to the magical spectacle in front of him.

The human stopped humming, laughed a deep bellied laugh of pure joy and started singing instead.

Raph stared at the bushy, white-bearded man himself, trying to reconcile what he saw with the image his imagination had supplied when questioning Leo earlier. It didn't even come close to fitting and he wasn't sure whether he was happy or disappointed about it.

Suddenly, the jolly, red suited human stopped singing and gazed in consternation at the tree in front of him. Something was wrong, the magic was slowing, grinding to a halt. Realisation dawned and he turned to face the couch behind which the four young turtles hid. He tried to plaster a stern look on his merry face but he couldn't quite cover the ever-present twinkle in his bright, warm eyes.

"It is Christmas Eve and all good little boys should be asleep in their warm, cozy beds if they want Santa to visit." He waited but there was no movement, no response. Internally, he frowned, though he didn't let it show on his face. He realised something wasn't right here. He should have been feeling excitement from children who had actually managed to catch him in the act but instead he felt only fear emanating from the hidden forms. He put all the kindness and gentleness he could find into his voice and body language as he smiled reassuringly in the direction of the couch. "It is alright, little ones, you can come out. I will not hurt you."

He waited patiently, then finally saw four small, humanoid turtle children slowly emerge from behind the seat, one by one. He smiled tenderly at each, "Hello Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo."

Leonardo and Raphael stood protectively in front of their other two brothers, who were both behind and slightly to the side of them. All four were wide eyed in a mixture of fear, amazement and bewilderment.

Raph's gaze turned defiant, "How'd you know our names?"

The red suited human laughed, it was not his customary deep bellied laugh but instead a more gentle version; he didn't want to scare the four special children in front of him off already, not when they had only just revealed themselves. "Santa knows the names of all children, Raphael," he winked in explanation.

"Who are you an' why are you here?" Leo asked, trying to keep his tone both respectful, the way his father expected, but also trying to show this strange human that he was willing to do whatever it took to keep his brothers safe.

Santa stared at Leonardo in amazement, 'So young and yet already so responsible.' "You really don't know who I am?" he asked, incredulous. Four little green heads shook in reply. He couldn't believe it. "Do you at least know what Christmas is?" Four more simultaneous shakes. He had to sit down. Santa removed a cushion off the nearby couch, placed it on the ground and sat upon it. Beaming at the turtles, he said, "Come, sit down and I'll tell you all about the magic of Christmas."

Mikey moved to do as asked but Raph grabbed his arm protectively and held him back.

"We'll stay standing." Leo stated, just in case they needed to make a fast run for it.

The strange human seated on the cushion on the ground blinked and Leonardo got the distinct impression that the human wasn't used to not being trusted.

"I am known the world over by many names, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle to name but a few, but perhaps the most well known is Santa Claus," he beamed at the four turtles. "You may call me Santa.

"Christmas is a special holiday celebrated in many countries around the world. For many people, it is a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. For many others, it is simply about family." Santa watched, smiling as the four small children begin to relax while he spoke. Michelangelo was the first to wander closer and settle onto the ground a couple of meters from where he sat; after Raph had let go of his arm of course. As Santa continued to speak, the other three slowly followed their more trusting brother; first Donatello and eventually Leonardo and Raphael together.

"Christmas is a time for giving and sharing. It is a celebration of peace and love. A time for family and friends to come together and celebrate being a part of each others lives.

"Every year on Christmas Eve, the night before Christmas, my elves, my helpers, help me to pack my sleigh full of toys and presents intended for all the good little boys and girls the world over." Santa chuckled at the excited looks and murmuring that passed between the four unique boys seated around him.

"My sleigh is pulled by eight extraordinary, flying reindeer and we visit all of the children who are on the nice list in a single night."

At this obviously ludicrous comment, Donnie straightened, a disbelieving look filling his face. "Every child's home in the world? In a single night? That's not even possible!"

Winking merrily at the young genius, Santa replied, "It is possible, _if_ you believe in magic and Christmas is _full_ of magic. I have a lot of very special help to prepare all though the year and..."

Donnie still wasn't sure if what this human was saying was really possible but he could see how excited his brothers were at the prospect, especially Mikey and he didn't want to ruin things for them. Besides... He glanced towards the half decorated tree and then at the gently bobbing and glowing fairy lights still suspended in mid-air around the room. He couldn't really say it was impossible considering what he and his brothers had witnessed while hiding behind the old couch... could he? He bit his lower lip a moment, then as the man stopped speaking, Donnie nodded at Santa Claus, his eyes serious.

Mikey bounced excitedly where he sat, "An' you're here for us?"

Santa smiled at the young, rambunctious turtle, unable to suppress a chuckle at the clear excitement in the small child's face and body. It was for moments like this that he loved this job. There was nothing like the joy of a child on Christmas. "Yes, I am, Michelangelo."

Mikey's eyes lit up even more if possible as he jumped to his feet and rushed right up to the jolly, red garbed, magic human. "What're we getting?" he quivered with enthusiasm.

Leo and Raph exchanged a look. They also were itching to know what they were getting.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! I cannot tell you that, Michelangelo, it would ruin the surprise. You will all just have to wait until morning arrives to find out."

"Aww..."

Donnie raised his eyes again, looking directly into Santa's. "What about daddy? Does he get anything?" he asked tremulously, dreading the answer considering that all Santa had spoken about was children.

Santa's face fell, "I am sorry, little one but I don't have anything for adults. My elves and I only made toys for the children..."

All four turtles stiffened sadly. Mikey stepped away from Santa and back towards his still seated brothers. None of them wanted anything if their father, their teacher, their protector, couldn't share in this special magic and as one, they said as much.

Santa felt a burst of pride and admiration for the selflessness of the four small turtle children around him and also a deep sadness as he wished, not for the first time in his long life, that he was able to cater for adults as well as children.

He couldn't give their father another child's gift but that didn't mean he couldn't get something. Santa smiled at each turtle in turn. "I cannot leave a toy for your father but there is no reason the four of you can't make a Christmas card for him instead."

"Card?" Leo echoed questioningly.

"Something from the heart from his sons would mean far more to him than anything I could give him anyway." Santa reassured.

Four pairs of eyes brightened excitedly as the brothers exchanged looks. By unspoken agreement, Leo and Mikey suddenly ran off, the latter still clutching his glow stick protectively. They soon returned; a sheet of cleanish paper and a handful of stubby crayons in hand and laid out their supplies on the floor beside Donnie and Raph before joining them on the ground. The four turtles laid on their plastrons, heads together, legs fanned out as they worked on their masterpiece, arguing good naturedly as they drew and coloured.

Santa Claus watched the four unique children, his heart warming more from the scene than any amount of warmth the sun could ever have provided. He chuckled merrily to himself. They really were precious, these four. As the turtles neared completion of their shared project, Santa realised this was one memory he never wanted to forget and reached into his bag of supplies for the Polaroid Camera he carried for moments like these.

The sudden unaccustomed brightness of the flash had Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo looking up at Santa and blinking the spots out of their eyes.

Santa watched the photograph as it developed, ecstatic at how well it came out. Finally, he noticed the four had finished their card and he reluctantly spoke. "It is time for you little ones to return to bed now. I still have many more children to visit this night and my magic doesn't work well when children are awake and watching."

Simultaneously, the four young turtles groaned their disappointment. They may have been tired but excitement like this didn't come often and they didn't want to miss out on any of it. They _knew_ they would never manage to fall asleep again but still allowed Santa to walk them back to their beds and tuck them in anyway. Before they were even aware of it, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo were fast asleep, with a small amount of help from the magic of the Father of Christmas.

- . - . -

_Something wasn't right._ Splinter carefully sniffed the air as he entered the doorway to the lair; the unknown scent within assaulting his nostrils. 'Someone has been here,' he realised in alarm. The scent was perhaps an hour or two old at most by this time and panic seized his heart. "_My sons!_"

Dropping his bag containing the few scant items of food he had managed to find that night, despite having been scavenging for hours, Splinter ran directly for his sons' room. In his fear, he paid no heed to the state of the common room as he hastened through his family's home. All he cared about right now was finding out what had happened to his sons; the only reasons for his continued life, in his opinion.

Before he was even aware of doing so, Splinter was pushing at the door, all but slamming it open. His gaze desperately searched the room and he sighed in relief. All four of his turtles were still in bed fast asleep, exactly where they should be. Peaceful and happy expressions filled their features. Splinter's face softened in relief and he couldn't help but smile, despite the fact that he was still picking up on that stranger's scent and worse, it was in this very room too! It was, however, older in here than in the rest of the lair, though it was still a disturbing presence none-the-less.

Despite seeing them and hearing the comforting sounds of their breaths, Splinter felt an overwhelming desire to make absolutely certain he wasn't merely hallucinating their safety. Softly, silently, he approached each turtle and gently caressed their foreheads before turning to leave once more.

He would allow them to continue to sleep as long as they wanted this day; better that than to only wake them to hunger. Despite being out until the first glow of the approaching dawn, he had found very little that night; barely enough for even a single meagre meal. From his experience over the last few years, he knew the next night would however bring a veritable bounty but try explaining that to four small, hungry children. Splinter smiled sadly as he began to open the door to leave. Another reason he would let them sleep was that he hoped to discern if the intruder would prove to be a threat to their safety or not, a task made much harder with four little mischievous shadows dogging his every move.

A small rustle made Splinter turn back. Leonardo was sitting up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Daddy, you're home," he observed sleepily.

The sound of his son's voice dispelled most of Splinter's lingering anxiety and he found himself smiling lovingly at Leonardo.

Some days, like right now, he still couldn't believe how exceptionally lucky he was to have found these turtles that day just a few short years ago; how very lucky he was to have found such a wonderful family. "That I am, my son," he chuckled lightly. "It is still very early, you should go back to sleep."

By now however, the other three were stirring and Splinter realised there would be no going back to sleep until nap time later that day. "Good morning, my sons."

Their combined reply was cacophonous and out of sync with each other. Mikey blinked tiredly and grinned when it hit him that his father was home, jumping out of bed and running to engulf Splinter in the biggest hug the small turtle was capable of.

"Did you all sleep well?" Splinter asked, warmly returning the embrace.

Nodding, all four replied yes but Donnie grinned shyly, "I had the best and most amazing dream, daddy!"

Leo and Raph froze and Mikey pulled away from Splinter. The four young turtles all gazed at each other, eyes widening as they remembered their magical visitor and the wonder from the previous night.

"_It's Christmas!_" Four voices excitedly cried as one. Before Splinter could even blink; he had heard of the day but he hadn't had opportunity to find out about it with four small sons to care for, the four turtle tots were out the door and racing each other eagerly to the main room where Santa had placed that wondrous tree. Splinter followed, not quite sure if he should be worried or not.

The sight that beheld the family of five took their breath away. The room was filled with a couple of dozen colour-changing candles, flames dancing merrily; tinsel hung draped from the ceiling in sweeping greens, reds, purples, oranges and blues. The tree was beautifully decorated with baubles, glittering fake snow and a huge, golden star proudly sat on the top with a string of battery powered, twinkling fairy lights loosely wrapped round and round the tree. A few meters away from the tree was a blow up pool, filled with fresh white snow; something that completely astounded Splinter considering it had not yet snowed topside and hung from the nearby wall were four overstuffed stockings in blue, red, purple and orange. Underneath the tree were a number of brightly wrapped and ribboned presents.

Splinter stood in shock as he and his sons took in the amazing sight. He had no idea _how_ this could have happened, _how_ it could even have been possible. "What... what _is_ all this?" Whilst scavenging, he had often seen similar decorations around the city but not like this, _nothing_ like this.

"It's Christmas, daddy!"

"Santa came to visit last night!"

Before his sons could move to the tree and attack the presents, Splinter stopped them, making them explain exactly what they knew. At the end of their tale, Splinter smiled and closed his eyes. He breathed deeply and extended all his senses, fine tuned from the art of meditation and the only intent he could feel within the room was that of peace and love; he could feel the benevolent magic saturating the air and he _knew_ it was safe and that everything was all right. He breathed again and opened his eyes, chuckling at how each of his sons were fidgeting and bouncing in anticipation where they stood, some more than others.

"Alright, alright." Splinter chuckled before moving silently but quickly to the tree and motioned for the turtles to join him. He looked down at the brightly coloured gifts and seeing names attached to four of them, he handed them out, enjoying the excitement on the faces and in the hearts of each child as they claimed and ripped open their gift.

A one hundred piece puzzle of a sea turtle swimming against the backdrop of a bright coral reef for Leonardo, a plush t-rex for Raphael, a child's first chemistry set for Donatello and a black and white panda bear for Michelangelo.

"What about the others?" Mikey asked reaching towards the remaining presents, curiosity to know what was inside burning.

"There are no names on the remainder." Splinter explained.

Crowding around Splinter, the four turtles peered at the remaining five gifts. Donnie blinked and reached out, picking up a small, flat one and held it up to Splinter. "This does. It's got your name on it, daddy."

Surprised, Splinter took it and looked. Indeed, now he looked again, he saw his own name, however he was certain it had not been written there a minute before. Carefully, unlike his turtles, he unwrapped it. Upon revealing the contents of the brightly wrapped package, all he could do was stand there, staring in awe. He had never even dared to dream of having something so simple yet precious. Gently, he touched one claw to the photo, joy filling his heart as he gazed upon the captured moment of his laughing, happy sons laying, heads together, feet fanned out, as they worked on a shared drawing together.

Raph and Mikey stood on tiptoes, craning their necks to see what their father received.

Leonardo whispered curiously, "What'd he get?"

"Picture of us makin' the card." Raph whispered back.

All four brothers whispered excitedly amongst themselves for a minute before Leo suddenly rushed off to their room. Soon after, he returned, card held protectively in hand and joined his brothers who all smiled at each other and nodded. As one, they turned to face their father, placing a hand each on the card and passing it up to him.

"_Merry Christmas, daddy!_"

Taking the card, Splinter's heart swelled and he smiled lovingly at his children. It had a drawing of Santa Claus and a tree on the cover and on the inside, an image of what was obviously Splinter and his four sons, hand in hand. "Merry Christmas, my sons."

Splinter allowed each turtle to open one of the remaining gifts, revealing a ball, a skipping rope and two boardgames, 'Connect Four' and 'Snakes and Ladders'. For the next couple of hours, Splinter watched his sons joyfully playing, all his worries and fears temporarily forgotten for one magical morning, until finally, rumbling tummies distracted his children from their play. Splinter's heart sank as he remembered just how little he had managed to scavenge the previous night but he could at least give them something. He returned to the lair's entrance where he remembered dropping his bag when panic had gripped him the moment he picked up on Santa's scent.

Claiming his bag, Splinter returned to his young turtles and beckoned them towards the kitchen.

Splinter opened the kitchen door, four hungry turtles crowding him and stopped dead, eyes widening in shock yet again.

The room was lit with several softly glowing candles and the table was laden with fruits, muffins, cookies, cakes and a couple of tinned hams.

This truly was a day of miracles.

Closing his eyes, Splinter sent his thoughts along the astral plain, hoping they would reach the one they were intended for. 'Thank you so much, Santa Claus, for giving my sons and myself such joy this day.'

"_Best Christmas ever!_" Mikey exclaimed excitedly.

"_First_ Christmas ever!" Donnie corrected smiling.

Mikey grinned back, "Like I said, _best Christmas ever!_"

And if Splinter heard a "Ho! Ho! Ho!" of laughter drifting back across the astral as he opened his eyes, he never said.

Owari

Merry Christmas to all!


End file.
